Then go catch him. I will my feet forward. This is exactly what Akari and I came out here to do, and while I never truly believed we’d manage it—I knew from the moment Akari floated the idea that an afternoon trading was likely her actual goal—the fates have now conspired to bring the Hue within my reach.
You can do this, Raya. It’s not the prospect of dooming him that has me hesitating, it’s the passive nature of my gift. I’m not a fighter. I can’t subdue him or compel him or even torture him like an Orange, a Red, or a Blue. The color running through my veins only allows me to see the future, and right at this moment, I can’t see a single reason for why he’d let me drag him back to the court.
Do it anyway.I set my shoulders and steel my resolve. It doesn’t matter that my stomach is clenched sick with the iron or that this Hue has several inches on me, a whole lot of lean muscle, and an entire tavern he could sway to his cause. He’s already experienced the cost of resisting a tracker, and if he’s here, drinking in plain sight—alone—then I’d venture he’s still plenty shaken after his close encounter with the law. I don’t need an active power to catch him, I just need to convince him that surrender is the painless way to go. That coming peacefully will make his inevitable end more bearable.
He’ll only believe it if you do. I affect an air of confidence as I slip into the seat across from him, making ready to unleash the threat that’ll persuade him to go. But before I can so much as get a word in—or make clear who I am or what I’m here for—he looks up from his glass to say, “You’re not very discreet for a tracker,” and put me straight on the back foot.
“Erm . . . well . . . you’re not very clever for a Hue.” I try not to sound as unnerved as I suddenly feel. It’s one thing to think that I have him cornered, quite another to learn that he allowed that noose to tighten around his throat.
“Eh, with so many of you on the way, running seemed kind of pointless.” He shrugs, leaning back in his chair. “Though maybe I would have if I’d realized they were sending in the rookie first.”
“Who says I’m a rookie?”
“The robes you were wearing this morning.” His tone sharpens to a knife. “I remember you from the gallery at my trial. You looked away right before the good part.”
I hate that he noticed.
I hate that he remembered me.
I hate that he’s somehow leading this conversation.
“Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll do better next time. But if you don’t mind, I’d like to finish my drink before we go.”
“I’m sorry, you’d like to—? What?” His request stammers me silent.
“Finish my drink,” the Hue says, slower this time, as though speaking to a child. “This place may not look like much, but the whiskey isn’t bad.”
“I still don’t—”I don’t understand. “You want to finish your drink and then you’re going to . . . come with me? Just like that?”
“Would you prefer it if I didn’t?”
“No, I—” Would prefer it if something about this conversation added up. “Okay, well then . . . fine—but make it quick,” I tell him, trying to take back control. Inexplicable or not, his refusal to fight does simplify things for me, even if it is making me wonder when the other shoe will drop.
“Don’t worry, the Gray will survive my existence until the cavalry gets here,” he mutters, swirling the amber liquid around his glass. “Gods, you Shades are all the same, aren’t you? So fucking married to your lie you can’t even imagine the truth anymore. Maybe we should have just let it all end last year.” He downs the rest of his whiskey in one. “Maybe the shadows deserve to die.”
The words turn my blood cold.
I see a vision about the shadows dying and less than a day later, the condemned Hue from that very vision is muttering about the death of the Gray? That can’t be a coincidence. And neither can the fact that he keeps implying that there are more of me on the way.
Oh . . . shit.I could slap myself for not catching it before. This Hue is a Sapphire; his gift allows him to sense the presence of other Shades—I remember that much from the list Akari and I were studying. That must be how he knew I was coming, and how he saw the Council’s actual contingent of trackers on the hunt for his head, assumed we were all part of the same unit.
Except I’m not part of the same unit, and the moment they arrive, I’m going to lose my chance to question him further.
Unless you both escape before they get here. The voice in my mind is growing downright obscene. Because helping him escape is a ludicrous idea, isn’t it? It goes against everything I’ve been taught to believe. He’s a Hue, a half breed, an unnatural perversion of good magic, and his capture—hisdeath—is exactly what’s supposed to happen.
It’s the law.
And that law was designed to ensure the safety of every other Shade.
But my vision could also affect the safety of every other Shade, and if nothing else, I need to understand how all these disparate pieces are connected, uncover the bigger picture the future wants me to prevent.
You’ll get him out, learn what he knows, then hand him in. Crazy as that might sound, I can’t see another answer—at least not without confessing to the open question that led me here, which would destroy my credibility, what little is left of my reputation, and any chance I have of passing my trials. The second the trackers hear that truth, they’ll dismiss the darkness I saw as nonsense, just a silly girl misinterpreting a power she doesn’t understand. In order to fix the mess I’m in, I need to offer them something concrete. I need to prove that I can still control the magic in my blood. Do something useful with it for a change.
A little help would be nice.I close my eyes and reach for that magic now, begging the future—no, commanding it—to quit holding its grudge. If it does, in fact, have a reason for sending me to the Hue, then it should see the value in helping me spring him from the tavern. And if it doesn’t, well . . . that would be an answer, too.
How will I get him out of here?My handsfist at my sides.Show me, damn it—show me how I’ll get him out!
The future’s reply comes so fast and solid, it almost knocks me off my seat, an entirely different type of vision to any I’ve ever experienced. It’s like watching a play act out scene by scene and action by action, complete with a script, stage directions, and the show master whispering instructions in my mind.
